As the group wanders further through the city, Stella’s voiceover explains where they are. This is the Meatpacking District. To her, “Meatpacking District” means “some major designers.” I thought Stella, with her love of leather and bones, was going to express a wish to make a garment out of a side of beef. I’m really relieved she didn’t. Instead, the group enters a nicely appointed building. The place is done up in taupe, beige, and orange and thankfully, bears zero resemblance to an abattoir. The competing designers line up in two rows near a stairway.
Tim stands on the opposite side of the stairway, and introduces “a fashion legend. Let’s welcome her!” The group looks up the stairway expectantly. Diane von Furstenberg appears, then slowly descends the long, long stairway like the royalty she is. Her story could conceivably be seen as Improbable History. Born in Belgium to Russian and Greek nationals, Diane Simone Michelle Halfin married a German prince, Egon of Furstenberg, when she was 18. Thus she became Princess Diane of Furstenberg. These days, she is a naturalised U.S. citizen, a world famous fashion designer/mogul, and Mrs. Barry Diller. Ms. von Furstenberg’s fashion career exploded in 1973 with her creation of the fabulous yet functional ‘wrap dress’ made from knit jersey fabric. Workaday women everywhere wanted one, and Ms. von F’s empire began. The ‘wrap dress’ has recently made a big comeback. It remains her signature work, despite many other achievements and awards. The original little wrap dress is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's costume section.
The Project Runway designers greet Diane von Furstenberg with warm applause, and seem thrilled to meet her. Kenley cries later in her solo videotaped interview, and Jerell vlogs that he was “at a loss for words.” Diane shakes every hand, then stands with Tim and describes the challenge. The designers are to create a look for Diane’s upcoming collection. The collection is inspired by the movie Foreign Affair. Diane explains that the character in the 1948 film is played by none other than classic Hollywood film star, Marlene Dietrich. Diane says she thinks Dietrich is “the most glamourous woman in the world.”
Dietrich’s character in the film is “a singer, a performer, or maybe she’s a spy,” Diane adds. “She starts in Berlin, and she has to escape... to Shanghai, to end up in New York. It’s the end of the ‘30s, the ‘40s,” she describes. Diane points to a row of designs that are already made. Those are samples from the collection. There is a backless evening gown in a black and white print, a somewhat less formal gown in grey and white print, and a handful of suits and casuals in mixed textures and colors. “I will say that no designer in history understands how to work with prints and different colors the way that Diane von Furstenberg does,” Tim effuses. No designer in history? I think Tim might be starstruck. But, no wonder. Ms. von F could rival Dietrich or Dietrich’s film role for intrigue.
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